Placing Keywords in the Topic

When the user goes to a topic by choosing a keyword from the Search dialog box, Help displays the selected topic in the main window, starting from the beginning of the topic. If the information related to the keyword is located in the middle or toward the end of the topic, the user may not be able to see the relevant information without scrolling the topic. This result may not be what you want.

If you want users to be able to go directly to relevant information within a topic (and see it without scrolling), you can place additional keywords with the information you want users to find. Keywords placed within a topic function as spot references (similar to context-string spot references) because they index specific locations, or “spots,” within the topic. To access the spot-referenced material, users choose the keyword from the Search dialog box.

In the Search dialog box, all keywords appear the same. The user cannot tell the difference between keywords placed at the beginning of the topic and those placed elsewhere in the topic. However, when the user goes to the topic, Windows Help uses the location of the keyword footnote as a reference point. If the keyword footnote is located in the middle of the topic, Help displays the topic as if the middle location were the “top” of the topic.

Note:

Because you cannot insert a title footnote in the middle of a topic, any keywords that you place in the middle of the topic use the main topic title in the Search dialog box.

To define a keyword in the middle of the topic

1.1.Place the insertion point where you want to define the keyword.

A keyword inserted anywhere except the beginning of the topic is treated as a spot reference.

2.2.From the Insert menu, choose Footnote.

The Footnote dialog box appears.

3.3.Type an uppercase K as the custom footnote mark, and then choose OK.

A superscript K ( K ) appears in the text window, and the insertion point moves to the footnote window.

4.4.Type the keyword(s) to the right of the K in the footnote window.

Use only a single space between the K and the first keyword. Separate multiple keywords with a semicolon (;). For example, you might type the following keywords to index a procedure within the “Cardfile” topic:

K switching to List view

Figure 6.9 shows this footnote window.